TAMPA, Fla. — While the Devils were itemizing their injury list and resting for two days at the Innisbrook Resort, the Pittsburgh Penguins were busy building a powerhouse that some view as unbeatable in the Eastern Conference.

The acquisition of Jarome Iginla, Brendan Morrow and Doug Murray may make the Pens solid Stanley Cup favorites. And the loss of Ilya Kovalchuk for perhaps a month leaves the Devils fighting just to make the playoffs.

“It makes a great team even better,” said Martin Brodeur, who will be in goal Friday night when the Devils face the Lightning at the Tampa Bay Times Forum. “They were good anyway. Hopefully when we play them we’ll have a better idea about their chemistry, because sometimes too many is not enough.”

Chemistry. There is always the risk that the Penguins made a very good club into an All-Star team with problems.

“I don’t put a lot of stock in evaluating trades. Those things either bear fruit or they don’t,” coach Pete DeBoer said. “There are a lot of intangibles that go into those situations. How guys fit. Obviously they’re getting world class players that should make (them) better.”

But will they?

“We don’t know how it’s all going to shake out. There are a lot of guys commanding big minutes there now,” Bryce Salvador pointed out. “It’s pretty interesting how early everything is happening this year. It’s almost a week before the (April 3 trade) deadline. They’re trying to get as many games as possible to make sure the chemistry is there.”

Salvador pointed to the Devils’ 2012 playoff run.

“Look at last year. The two teams that ended up in there weren’t really the favorites,” Salvador said of the Devils and Los Angeles Kings. “It’s whoever is going to be hot. What we saw last year was this team had an unbelievable chemistry. When you have that, it’s really easy to feed off it.

“The most important thing is how everyone interacts with each other. The system becomes secondary. If you don’t have that good feeling inside the room, it doesn’t matter what your lineup is and what system you’re playing. It’s tough to win.”

So there is no reason to call off the playoffs and hand the Cup to the Penguins.

“I think last year is a good example of why you play the playoffs,” DeBoer said.

But do the Devils, who so far have brought in Matt D’Agostini, Andrei Loktionov and Tom Kostopoulos, have the chemistry and talent to make the playoffs and then get far in the postseason?

“The chemistry, considering what we’re going through losing Kovy and having (Dainius Zubrus) out and (Henrik Tallinder) with some injuries, I think has been real good,” Salvador said. “Everyone has welcomed the new guys that have come in.

“What has been a staple in this organization since I’ve been here is everyone finds ways to look at injuries like Kovy’s as something to rally behind. This organization does a good job of pulling together when we lose key players. We have 15 games here. We have a playoff spot and we really control our destiny.”

And they are now rested.

“I don’t know how it will help. We just didn’t see how it could hurt to take advantage of the opportunity to clear our heads for a couple days considering the schedule, what we’ve been through and what it looks like over the next month,” DeBoer said. “You cross your fingers and hope that it works and you play with energy. Obviously you’re weighing the rest and energy with rust from being off the ice for a couple of days. It was a chance we were willing to take.”